Posted to News on 2nd Dec 2013, 22:40
European Declarations of Conformity and Incorporation
Doug Nix has written an excellent article Understanding European Declarations of Conformity and Incorporation on his Machinery Safety 101 blog. This is aimed primarily at people who are not familiar with the European system under which machinery is CE marked to indicate a claim of compliance with the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.
The first section in the article therefore explains the difference between marking schemes, as used in Europe, and certification schemes operated by the likes of the Underwriters Laboratories in the US and Canada. Next, the article explains which European Directives require the issuing of Declarations of Conformity (or Incorporation), and why the correct term is 'EU Declaration of Conformity' (or Incorporation), rather than EC Declaration...
Another subject addressed by the article is the question of logos and markings - in particular, should the CE mark be shown on the Declaration of Conformity or Declaration of Incorporation, and should the company logo be used on Declarations?
This is a detailed article, and there is a useful list of references at the end for people who want to read more about the subject. In addition, however, there is a helpful summary in the form of bullet points.
Follow the link to read the full article Understanding European Declarations of Conformity and Incorporation.
About the author
Doug Nix is Managing Director and Principal Consultant at Compliance inSight Consulting Inc (CiC). He is also the Lead Author and Editor of the Machinery Safety 101 blog.
Doug teaches machinery risk assessment techniques privately and through Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Kitchener, Ontario. He also provides technical services and training to clients, covering machine risk assessments, industrial machinery safety, safety-related control system integration and reliability, laser safety and regulatory conformity (for Canadian, US and EU regulations and standards).
